Building block



April 1936 A. GIBSON ET AL 2,037,465

BUILDING BLOCK Filed July 12," 1955 Patented Apr. 14, 1936 PATENT OFFICE Q BUILDING BLOCK Alfred Gibson and Arthur Gibson, Boston, Mass.

Application July 12, 1935, Serial No. 31,008 7 Claims. (01. 72-18) This invention relates to a building block more particularly for facing purposes, for instance, for use as veneer over the interior or exterior walls of a building or as a tread surface over a floor. An object is to provide an artificial or cast facing block which is not only reinforced against crumbling or shattering but which can be securely bonded or locked in place to resist effectively displacing or shifting forces in various directions. Another object is to provide a facing block of the foregoing character which can be fabricated at low cost and which lends itself to immediate and inexpensive application more especially to a bed layer of suitable plastic material serving, upon setting, to bond it to the wall, floor, or other backing on which such layer is initially deposited.

The building block of the present invention is a cast structure, for instance, a cement block, of substantial thickness reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein sub stantially parallelly with its faces, the layer projecting through all of the edges of the block, preferably approximately midway of its thickness, and being bent sharply backwardly and extending at least to about the back face, although it is distinctly preferable that it continue inward- 1y over the back face and thus afford areas for enmeshing bonding material not only immediately next to the edge areas in back of the layer but also immediately next to the back face. Such blocks can be set in a layer of cement, mortar, or other suitable plastic bonding material to form a wall facing or a floor tread which, after being pointed, has each of its blocks firmly locked or keyed both against edgewise and facewise displacement. Such a block is preferably recessed inwardly at all of its edges in back of its front face to define a marginal shoulder and inwardly recessed edges, the metal layer reinforcement projecting through all of the recessed edges immediately in back of the shoulder and continuing to the back face preferably within, or substantially flush with, the outer boundary or edge of the shoulder so as not to interfere with such uniform or variable spacing of adjacent blocks in a finished wall or floor facing as may be desired. I

With the foregoing and other features and objects in view, the present invention will now be described in further detail with particular reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 shows in perspective a block embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates in perspective a fragment of a wall faced with such blocks.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

The block shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises substantially parallel front and back faces l0 and l I, respectively. If desired, the front face It] may include, as depicted, a raised panel a, or be provided with-a rubble or any other suitable finish. It is preferably of substantial thickness, say, about A to 1 inches, and is preferably recessed inwardly at all of its edges in back of its front face Ill to define a marginal shoulder I2 and inwardly recessed edges l3. The edges M in front of the shoulder may, as shown, be inclined in backwardly divergent relation, whereas the recessed edges H5 in back of the shoulder may be inclined in an opposite or converging relation. The end edges preferably present substantially the same configuration as the side edges. If desired, however, both the edges l4 and I3 may be substantially perpendicular to the faces of the block, with the latter edges being offset inwardly by a distance corresponding to the shoulder {2.

The block is cast from cement, plaster of Paris,

or other suitable plastic materialwith a flexible, reticulated metal reinforcement embedded therein, the reinforcement taking the form, for instance, of wire cloth l5 disposed substantially parallelly and substantially coextensive with its faces and being of suchdimensions as to project beyond all of the edges of the block. It is preferablethat the layer of wire cloth l5 lie substantially in line with the shoulder l2 'so that its projecting marginal portions emerge at the corner l6 formed between such shoulder and the inwardly recessed edges l3. Once the block has set or hardened, the marginal portions are bent sharply backwardly to present areas a extending slightly beyond the back face II and then turned inwardly to present areas [512 immediately in back of or overlying the back face II. It will, of course, be appreciated that rather than using wire cloth, such equivalents thereof as meta] lath, wire netting, perforated sheet metal, etc., might be used and further that the wire cloth might be of such dimensions that its inturned areas [51) will overlie substantially the entire back face H. In any event, the dimensions of the wire cloth should be such that its marginal portions when bent sharply backwardly extend at least to approximately the back face, thereby presenting areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the inwardly recessed edges The block hereinbefore described may be used, as illustrated in Figure 3, as a facing or veneer for the exterior of a wall. The wall may, as shown, comprise a backing of wooden boards l1, although such other materials of construction as brick, concrete, or suitable compositions might be employed as the backing. The backing is preferably covered with a bed layer of plastic material 18, such as hydraulic cement, plaster of Paris, asphalt cement, or the like,

Ill)

whereupon the facing blocks of the present invention, for instance, blocks of the various sizes depicted in Figure 3 may be set in and bonded by the layer to the backing. In some instances, it may be desirable to drive nails, staples, or other fastening elements through the marginal portions l5a and/or I51) of the wire cloth to suspend the blocks temporarily on the wooden backing while the bonding layer I8 is hardening as well as to provide means for maintaining the blocks in place, should the bed layer and the mortar seams between blocks lose their hold on the blocks. In setting the blocks in the bed layer of material l8, there is a tendency for such material not only to enmesh with the areas 15b of the wire cloth overlying the back of the block but also to exude somewhat into the space or clearance between the inwardly recessed edges I3 of adjacent blocks, as appears in Figure 4. The rest of the space or clearance between adjacent blocks may be filled with mortar l9 when the wall is pointed, the mortar thus being enmeshed by such portions of the areas l5a of the wire cloth as are not filled by the plastic material l8. Of course, pointing of the wall may be effected before or after the plastic material I B has set.

While it is possible, as already suggested, to omit the areas l5b of the wire cloth overlying the back of the block, yet these wire cloth areas are desired in addition to those areas 511 lying next to the inwardly offset edges l3 in that they not only enhance anchorage of each block against edgewise displacement or movement, but also function to enmesh the plastic material by which the blocks are bonded to the wall backing and thus to safeguard the block against facewise movement. Indeed, it may be preferable in some instances, as already stated, to provide areas i5b of such dimensions as to overlie substantially the entireback face of the block.

In some instances, the wire cloth layer l5 need not extend through the entire body of the block but may consist of a rectangular frame or ribbon bounding a central opening and having an inner zone embedded in the block and an outer zone corresponding to the areas I5a and 151). Such a frame or ribbon, although intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims, furnishes a discontinuous reinforcement for the body of the block and is hence regarded by us as inferior to the continuous block reinforcement hereinbefore described and shown in the drawing.

We claim:

1. A cast building block of substantial thickness reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially parallel with its faces, said layer projecting through all the edges of said block and being bent sharply backwardly and extending at least to about the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the edge areas in back of said layer.

2. A cast building block of substantial thickness reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially parallel with its faces, said layer projecting through all of the edges of said block and being bent sharply backwardly and thence inwardly over the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the edge areas in back of said layer and immediately next to the back face.

3. A cast building block of substantial thickness reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially midway of and parallel with its faces and being substantially coextensive with said faces, said layer projecting through all of the edges of said block and being bent sharply backwardly and thence inwardly over the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the edge areas in back of said layer and immediately next to the back face.

4. A cast building block of substantial thickness recessed inwardly at all of its edges in back of said front face to define a marginal shoulder and inwardly recessed edges, said block being reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially parallel with its faces and said layer projecting through all of said edges immediately in back of said shoulder and being bent sharply backwardly and extending at least to about the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the inwardly recessed edges.

5- A cast building block of substantial thickness recessed inwardly at all of its edges in back of said front face to define a marginal shoulder and inwardly recessed edges, said block being reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially parallel ith its faces and said layer projecting through all of said edges immediately in back of said shoulder and being bent sharply backwardly and thence inwardly over the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the inwardly recessed edges and next to the back face.

6. A cast building block of substantial thickness recessed inwardly at all of its edges approximately midway of its thickness to define a marginal shoulder and inwardly recessed edges, said block being reinforced by a flexible, reticulated metal layer embedded therein substantially parallel and coextensive with its faces and said layer projecting through all of said edges immediately in back of said shoulder and being bent sharply backwardly and thence inwardly over the back face to afford areas for enmeshing bonding material immediately next to the inwardly recessed edges and next to the back face.

'7. A building structure comprising a backing, 

